Avnet, Inc. Names William P. Sullivan to its Board of Directors

Phoenix, Arizona -- Avnet, Inc. (NYSE:AVT) today announced that William P. Sullivan, president and chief executive officer of Agilent Technologies Inc., has been appointed to the company’s board of directors.
William P. Sullivan

“We are delighted to welcome Mr. Sullivan to the Avnet Board,” commented Roy Vallee, Avnet’s chairman and chief executive officer. “His knowledge of the technology industry and hands-on experience running a global organization will benefit Avnet as we continue to grow.”

Mr. Sullivan has served as the president and chief executive officer of Agilent, a provider of bio-analytical and electronic measurement solutions, since March 2005. He served as executive vice president and chief operating officer of Agilent from March 2002 until March 2005, and as its senior vice president and general manager of its Semiconductor Products Group from August 1999 until March 2002. Mr. Sullivan serves on the board of URS Corporation as well as the Children’s Discovery Museum in San Jose, California.

Concurrent with this appointment, Avnet also announced that James A. Lawrence, chief financial officer of Unilever PLC, has resigned from the Avnet board of directors due to change in employment which required his relocation to Europe.

Mr. Vallee commented, “We are very sorry to see Jim leave our board, but we respect his decision and understand his concern with being able to commit appropriate time to our board given his new job responsibilities and location. We thank him for his nine years of service during a period in which Avnet set new records for growth and profitability.”